Case Petito: friend confessed to killing the young woman
Created: 01/22/2022, 02:58 am
File photo shows Brian L. after police stopped the couple's van near the entrance to Arches National Park in Utah.
© Uncredited/Moab Police Department via AP/dpa
The case of the killed Gabby Petito attracted international attention in the summer.
The young woman had not returned from a trip with her boyfriend.
Now there are new details.
According to the FBI, the then boyfriend of Gabby Petito, who was missing in the United States for weeks and was later found dead, claimed responsibility for killing the young woman before he committed suicide.
The investigation did not identify any other people besides Brian L. who were involved in the death of the 22-year-old, said FBI agent Michael Schneider on Friday.
L. confessed to the crime in a notebook that was secured after his suicide.
The investigation would therefore be terminated shortly.
"All logical steps of the investigation have been completed in this case," said Schneider.
Petito's body had been discovered in Wyoming
Petito had not returned from a trip across the United States with her 23-year-old boyfriend last summer.
The case attracted attention both in the United States and internationally - not least because the couple from Florida had shared numerous pictures and videos from their trip on social networks.
Petito's body was found in the state of Wyoming in September after an intensive search.
According to the coroner, the young woman was strangled.
Her boyfriend had driven away in his car shortly after Petito was reported missing.
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At the end of October, body parts of the 23-year-old were discovered in a nature reserve in the state of Florida.
According to the forensic medicine, L. died as a result of a shot that he had inflicted on himself.
Even after Petito's body was found, he was not explicitly considered a suspect, but the police classified him as a person relevant to the investigation.
dpa